I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3128 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to uphold freedom of association 

protections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 5, 2019 

Mr. GALLEGO (for himself, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. STIVERS, Mrs. MURPHY, Mrs. 

BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. CLEAVER, 

Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. BYRNE, and Mr. HUDSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to uphold 

freedom of association protections, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Collegiate Freedom 

5 of Association Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Single-sex social organizations, including so9 rorities, fraternities, and private social clubs, have 


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1 existed at institutions of higher education for over 

2 200 years, where they have played, and should con3 tinue to play, unique roles in the development of 

4 young women and men by creating sisterhoods and 

5 brotherhoods that foster leadership, promote aca6 demic achievement, and encourage civic and campus 

7 involvement through philanthropic activities. 

8 (2) The freedom of association—that is, the 

9 freedom of joining, assembling, and residing with 

10 others—is protected under the First and Fourteenth 

11 Amendments to the Constitution, and allows individ12 uals to create spaces that are safe, welcoming, em13 powering, enabling, uninhibited, and free. 

14 (3) Single-sex social sororities, fraternities, and 

15 private social clubs meet the requirements for inti16 mate and expressive associations protected by the 

17 freedom of association because they are small and 

18 selective, are bound together by friendship, common 

19 interests, and common purpose, and create safe and 

20 empowering spaces for their members. 

21 (4) Some institutions of higher education, which 

22 stand in positions of power and authority over their 

23 students, have increasingly sought to eliminate or re24 strict access to single-sex social organizations, which 

25 are designed to nurture, lift, and empower students. 


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1 (5) While the history of equal access in higher 

2 education includes discriminatory actions taken on 

3 the basis of race, religion, national origin, and sex 

4 by students, faculty, staff, and social organizations, 

5 many members of these same groups have taken, 

6 and continue to take actions to make the higher edu7 cation community more open and inclusive to all. 

8 (6) While sex discrimination remains a serious 

9 problem in our society, allowing institutions of high10 er education to sanction members of sororities, fra11 ternities, and private social clubs based solely on the 

12 single-sex status of the organization that the student 

13 belongs to will not solve these problems, is counter14 productive, and violates an individual’s constitutional 

15 right to freedom of association. 

16 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol17 lows: 

18 (1) Protect any student in a single-sex social 

19 organization or any single-sex social organization 

20 from any adverse action by an institution of higher 

21 education based solely on the membership practice of 

22 such organization of limiting membership to only in23 dividuals of one sex. 

24 (2) Ensure any student in a single-sex social or25 ganization or any single-sex social organization is 


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1 treated equitably in comparison to students at an in2 stitution of higher education who do not participate 

3 in single-sex social organizations, or other social or4 ganizations at an institution of higher education 

5 that are not single-sex. 

6 (3) Protect the rights of students to freely asso7 ciate with and participate in social organizations, in8 cluding single-sex social organizations. 

9 SEC. 3. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION PROTECTIONS FOR 

10 STUDENTS IN SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS. 

11 Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

12 (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 124. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION PROTECTIONS FOR 

15 STUDENTS IN SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS. 

16 ‘‘(a) UPHOLDING FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION PRO17 TECTIONS.—Any student (or group of students) enrolled 

18 in an institution of higher education shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) have a right to form or apply to join any 

20 social organization, including any single-sex social 

21 organization; and 

22 ‘‘(2) if selected for membership by any social 

23 organization, have a right to join such social organi24 zation and participate in such social organization. 


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1 ‘‘(b) NON-RETALIATION AGAINST MEMBERS OF SIN2 GLE-SEX SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS.—An institution of 

3 higher education that receives funds under this Act shall 

4 not— 

5 ‘‘(1) take any action to require or coerce a stu6 dent or social organization to waive the rights of the 

7 student or organization, respectively, under this sec8 tion; 

9 ‘‘(2) take any adverse action against a student 

10 who is a member of a single-sex social organization, 

11 or a single-sex social organization, based solely on 

12 the membership practice of such organization of lim13 iting membership to only individuals of one sex; or 

14 ‘‘(3) impose a recruitment restriction (including 

15 a recruitment restriction relating to the schedule for 

16 membership recruitment) on a single-sex social orga17 nization recognized by the institution, which is not 

18 imposed upon other student organizations by the in19 stitution, unless the organization and the institution 

20 have entered into a mutually agreed-upon written 

21 agreement that allows the institution to impose such 

22 restriction. 

23 ‘‘(c) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

24 section shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) require an institution of higher education 

2 to officially recognize, or enter into a mutually 

3 agreed-upon written agreement with, a social organi4 zation (such as a social organization whose purpose 

5 is incompatible with the religious or cultural mission 

6 of the institution of higher education); 

7 ‘‘(2) prohibit an institution of higher education 

8 from taking an adverse action, which is not based 

9 solely on the membership practice of a social organi10 zation of limiting membership to only individuals of 

11 one sex, against a student who joins such social or12 ganization or such social organization— 

13 ‘‘(A) whose purpose is incompatible with 

14 the religious or cultural mission of the institu15 tion of higher education; or 

16 ‘‘(B) for another reason (such as academic 

17 or nonacademic misconduct); 

18 ‘‘(3) subject to subsection (b)(3), prevent a so19 cial organization from regulating its own member20 ship; 

21 ‘‘(4) inhibit the ability of the faculty of an insti22 tution of higher education to express an opinion (ei23 ther individually or collectively) on a single-sex social 

24 organization, or otherwise inhibit the academic freeVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3128.IH H3128

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1 dom of such faculty to research, write, or publish 

2 material on such an organization; or 

3 ‘‘(5) create enforceable rights against a social 

4 organization or against an institution of higher edu5 cation due to the decision of such social organization 

6 to deny membership to an individual student. 

7 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) ADVERSE ACTION.—The term ‘adverse ac9 tion’ includes the following with respect to a single10 sex social organization or a member of such organi11 zation: 

12 ‘‘(A) Expulsion, suspension, probation, 

13 censure, condemnation, reprimand, or any other 

14 disciplinary, coercive, or sanction taken by an 

15 institution of higher education or administrative 

16 unit of such institution. 

17 ‘‘(B) An oral or written warning with re18 spect to an action described in subparagraph 

19 (A) made by an official of an institution of 

20 higher education acting in the official capacity 

21 of the official. 

22 ‘‘(C) An action to deny participation in 

23 any education program or activity, including the 

24 withholding of any rights, privileges, or oppor25 tunities. 


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1 ‘‘(D) An action to withhold, in whole or in 

2 part, any financial assistance (including schol3 arships and on campus employment), or deny4 ing the opportunity to apply for financial assist5 ance, a scholarship, a graduate fellowship, or 

6 on-campus employment. 

7 ‘‘(E) An action to deny or restrict access 

8 to on-campus housing. 

9 ‘‘(F) An action to deny any certification, 

10 endorsement, or letter of recommendation that 

11 may be required by a student’s current or fu12 ture employer, a government agency, a licensing 

13 board, an institution of higher education, a 

14 scholarship program, or a graduate fellowship 

15 to which the student seeks to apply. 

16 ‘‘(G) An action to deny participation in 

17 any sports team, club, or other student organi18 zation, including a denial of any leadership po19 sition in any sports team, club, or other student 

20 organization. 

21 ‘‘(H) An action to withdraw official rec22 ognition by an institution of higher education. 

23 ‘‘(I) An action to require any student to 

24 certify that such student is not a member of a 

25 single-sex social organization or to disclose the 


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1 student’s membership in a single-sex social or2 ganization. 

3 ‘‘(J) An action by an institution of higher 

4 education to interject its own criteria into the 

5 membership practices of the organization in any 

6 manner that conflicts with the rights of such 

7 organization under title IX of the Education 

8 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) 

9 or this section. 

10 ‘‘(K) An action to impose any operational 

11 policy or restriction that is in violation of this 

12 section. 

13 ‘‘(2) SINGLE-SEX SOCIAL ORGANIZATION.—The 

14 term ‘single-sex social organization’ means— 

15 ‘‘(A) a social fraternity or sorority that is 

16 an organization described in section 501(c) of 

17 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which is ex18 empt from taxation under section 501(a) of 

19 such Code, the active membership of which con20 sists primarily of students in attendance at an 

21 institution of higher education; 

22 ‘‘(B) the Young Men’s Christian Associa23 tion, Young Women’s Christian Association, 

24 Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, and 

25 voluntary youth service organizations which are 


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1 so exempt, the membership of which has tradi2 tionally been limited to persons of one sex and 

3 principally to persons of less than nineteen 

4 years of age; or 

5 ‘‘(C) a single-sex private social club (in6 cluding an independent organization located off7 campus) that consists primarily of students or 

8 alumni of an institution of higher education.’’. 

Æ 


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